The present disclosure relates to a sheet storage cassette used to stock a large number of sheets of recording media in advance and an image forming apparatus provided with the same, and in particular, relates to a mechanism for locking a sheet storage cassette to a body of an image forming apparatus.
Sheet feeding cassettes (sheet storage cassettes) are used in image forming apparatuses, such as copiers, printers, and the like, for the purpose of feeding sheets of cut paper or the like. A sheet feeding cassette stocks a large number of unprinted sheets of paper, and feeds them one by one separately from the topmost layer of the sheets stacked inside the cassette, by means of a sheet feeding unit provided in the vicinity of the sheet feeding cassette.
By the way, sheets of paper stocked in a sheet feeding cassette inside an image forming apparatus can be stolen. To prevent such theft, there has been proposed an image forming apparatus provided with a sheet feeding cassette locking mechanism.
For example, there is known an image forming apparatus in which a lock for locking a sheet feeding cassette is arranged on the back side of a body frame, so that the design properties of the apparatus are not damaged and a thief is prevented from instantly finding out why he/she cannot draw out the sheet feeding cassette.